Prof. Rashid Khalidi is under fire once more. Apparently John McCain gave him some money and some Republicans don't like the fact that McCain is running a virulently xenophobic campaign, and borderline anti-Semitic one that treats Jews as mindless, sub-human, single-issue voters, while at the same time funding a xeno.

Prof. Khalidi has two other strikes against him:

He believes that peace in the Middle East is possible; and he want to work towards this peace.

He knows Barack Obama.

I'm not sure why this is relevant to the presidential race for either candidate, but it out there.

In 2005 Prof. Khalidi, amongst others, was the target of a smear campaign by a group known as the "David Project." I have to ask why individuals with no connection to academia, enter the academy to target faculty? Why do individuals, such as Daniel Pipes and Martin Kramer, who are not capable of functioning in academia judge the quality of works of other academics? The recent attacks against Prof. Khalidi come out of the anti-academic and anti-intellectual smears that have been gaining momentum over the last few years. There is a clear dislike for those who are intellectually capable and qualified, because their critics are not. There is a dislike for peacemakers, because peacemaking takes intelligence and patience. Warmongering is for those who have neither. The Jewish community is nothing more than a set piece of stereotypes to be manipulated by these critics, and any one who works with Jews that deviate from these stereotypes are targets.

However, Josh tells me 23% of Texans believe that he is. And Aziz says 28% of Kentuckians believe that he is. Aziz also tells me the number is 12% nationally.

So what happens when Obama is elected president? Does that mean that these people will think they are governed by a Muslim? That as a good Muslim he will demand we do things that are anti-American? Things like use our intellect in an engagement with the free-flow of ideas? We'll all be able to practice our respective faiths freely and openly? We'll stop fearing each other because we'll be forced to work together for the common good? That we'll have to care of the poor and needy? (As a good Muslim, this is what I hold dear from our "law." So if the fear is that Obama is a good Muslim, this is what I think we'll have to fear.)

Oct 30, 2008

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?....think about it.

Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to painkillers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker??

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline

problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality,do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:

Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.

Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:

University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.

Joe gets up at 6 am and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for reasonable water quality standards.

With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised. All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and the amount of the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside, and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some wacko environmentalist liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government provided sidewalk to the subway station for his government subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays, and vacation because some big city liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job, or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten mortgage and his below market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government might be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads. He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine drinking, cheese eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good.

He doesn't mention that those beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.

Joe agrees: "We don't need those big government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have!"

Oct 20, 2008

Oct 15, 2008

I've been watching the subtle anti-Semitism directed against Sen. Barack Obama. First there's the constant reference to his name that he shares with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack, and now he is being tied to a rabbi, a cousin of his wife's. We're now understanding how deep this anti-Semitism runs with the revelation that Gov. Sarah Palin did a little religion baiting in her last race and believes all Jews should be converted. We wouldn't stand for this attack on a people if they were Muslim or Christian, and we shouldn't stand for it when it directed to Jews. Sen. Obama is not a Jew, but what so what if he was?